37. Steve Cishek – Rangers. Two years, $14MM. Cishek came of age as the Marlins’ closer in 2012-14 before being traded to the Cardinals in July 2015. The Cards non-tendered him in light of a rising arbitration salary, leading to a two-year, $10MM deal with Seattle. He had hip surgery a year ago, delaying his 2017 debut until mid-May. Cishek did quality work for the Mariners before being traded to the Rays this summer. He was lights-out with Tampa Bay, allowing just three runs in 24 2/3 innings.

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longhotsummer wrote:I realize now, any opposing viewpoint, will not be tolerated.

I woke up and saw this and was pretty underwhelmed, but I think that's because I hadn't looked at Cishek all that closely. He's been really effective the last 2 years, and getting back to the NL should only help more. I'm still a little bummed that it likely means they aren't getting something else more shiny(Reed, Davis), but we'll see how the rest plays out with the rotation.

This is a solid move, imo. Really nice 4th or 5th best reliever, he’s more than you can ask for in that spot. Would’ve been nice to have Davis back but for the money if the option was Morrow+Cishek and maybe a flyer guy or just pretty much Davis+a flyer guy I’d probably choose the route we took.

Last edited by Cubswin11 on Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:I woke up and saw this and was pretty underwhelmed, but I think that's because I hadn't looked at Cishek all that closely. He's been really effective the last 2 years, and getting back to the NL should only help more. I'm still a little bummed that it likely means they aren't getting something else more shiny(Reed, Davis), but we'll see how the rest plays out with the rotation.

I was honestly surprised his numbers were that good when I looked him up this morning. I'm okay with this, but want to see how the rest of the pieces fit.

Looks alright. It'd still be nice to add another piece, but I agree that Davis/Reed look pretty unlikely. I could maybe see a Watson-level signing. More likely, this is what we're rolling with. Maples and/or Wilson stepping up would be excellent.

Cubswin11 wrote:This is a solid move, imo. Really nice 4th or 5th best reliever, he’s more than you can ask for in that spot.

4th or 5th?

Morrow, Strop and Carl are all easily better. Monty may even rank ahead of him for me/some and if Wilson decides not to be a bum he could be better.

Carl is not easily better. Carl walks way too many people and is far too prone to the blowup inning to be considered easily better. Carl could be the best of the group, but I don't think he's there yet. And by the looks of it, Cishek is very similar to Strop.

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longhotsummer wrote:I realize now, any opposing viewpoint, will not be tolerated.

Cubswin11 wrote:This is a solid move, imo. Really nice 4th or 5th best reliever, he’s more than you can ask for in that spot.

4th or 5th?

Morrow, Strop and Carl are all easily better. Monty may even rank ahead of him for me/some and if Wilson decides not to be a bum he could be better.

All those guys would comfortably fit within the same tier for me. Morrow would stand alone if he's healthy and pitching like he did for the Dodgers, but there's enough uncertainty there that I wouldn't place him above the other guys yet.

Considering his history of actually racking up saves, I would not be surprised if this guy became the nominal closer while the other guys were utilized in the earlier high leverage innings. This would especially be the case when they look to be facing a string of righties in the 9th.

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longhotsummer wrote:I realize now, any opposing viewpoint, will not be tolerated.

In all seriousness, it's a good signing. I don't believe they want to end on this point, but getting 2 guys that could potentially close gives them options, and Cishek has been solid for awhile.

With the Orioles inching towards selling off pieces, I wonder if they might look into Brad Brach. I could see the contours of a deal involving Mike Montgomery perhaps make sense for both sides, if the Cubs can't land bigger fish for the pen.

I guess like many I didn't look at his numbers before posting. He's better than I thought (I thought he was more of a Kintzler low K/velo and high GB/BABIP suppression artist), I guess saying Strop/Edwards are easily better is wrong (more upside/dominance yes). Either way I like how the bullpen has come together with have a nice mix of premium stuff/upside and some stability with a guy like Cishek. Also like Jersey said he could make a good closer option, let the premium stuff guys be the firemen and the steady guy (with not as good of stuff but less walkie and good GB numbers) be the closer and get clean innings to start. He must have just missed the IP to qualify overall but among RP who pitched 40+ innings (he was at 44) he had the 23rd best GB rate and was within .2% of being inside the top 20.

Last edited by Cubswin11 on Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Looks alright. It'd still be nice to add another piece, but I agree that Davis/Reed look pretty unlikely. I could maybe see a Watson-level signing. More likely, this is what we're rolling with. Maples and/or Wilson stepping up would be excellent.

If Wilson can turn it around that will likely be fine but otherwise we will be looking at acquiring a guy at the deadline again. I still don't think they are done though. Maybe it won't be Reed or Davis but I would be shocked if they are content to start the season with that pen.